


remnants

by Cypherr



Series: Hollow [10]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Hurt No Comfort, I really wanted to bring lunch club into this (may they rip), Vilbur, Villain Wilbur Soot, and SMPlive is what got me into the fandom in the first place, because they're some of my favorite CCs, guys look im being productive, the timeline is mine to control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27625073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cypherr/pseuds/Cypherr
Summary: So, maybe what he was planning was stupid, but he was sixteen- he was allowed to be a chronic dumbass. At least, that's what he told himself as he walked down the quartz staircase into the prison that had been built under the White House so he could talk to Schlatt.
Relationships: Jschlatt & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Hollow [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958773
Comments: 10
Kudos: 559





	remnants

**Author's Note:**

> finally, some plot like I promised! it's not like a 'holy shit' moving the story forward kinda part, but it gives a past to the characters, and how fucked Wilbur really is
> 
> also on a side note, does anyone have any tips on how to write in a style they aren't used to? because for my CW class, I can't use the style I do here for a multitude of reasons, but it's really, really bad for my writer's block. I don't have much time left to get to the required 30k word minimum, and I've only got 4k written :/

They had been back in the White House for two days, and despite the fact that there had been no sign of Wilbur, Tommy still expected to see the crazed man around every corner, or standing in every dimly lit hallway. Still expected him to be sitting in his office, doing Notch knows what. But he wasn't, and it scared him. Wilbur _wasn't there_ so, logically, he _shouldn't be_ , but that also meant that he had _no fucking clue_ to his whereabouts- what he could be doing, be planning. Maybe he was just biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

Techno and Dream's constant stalking of the grounds and the city didn't help assuage his fears either. The pair never seemed to rest, constantly watching for the appearance, or even just a sign, of their estranged 'president.' He felt _trapped_. Felt as if he would suffocate if he was confined within these walls for any longer. He knew they did it out of care- unlike Wilbur- but it- he just _couldn't do it_. He was a whole ass person who needed to _breathe_ every once in a while. So, maybe what he was planning was stupid, but he was _sixteen_ \- he was allowed to be a chronic dumbass. At least, that's what he told himself as he walked down the quartz staircase into the prison that had been built under the White House so he could talk to Schlatt.

Because the man had respawned as they all did upon death, he had to be imprisoned. He was the only once locked down here, so it for more like solitary confinement. He could see the ram hybrid now, slumped over against the bars of the cell, posture defeated and eyes blank and empty in their unblinking stare. Even when Tommy sat himself in front of the man, he never moved- not even a twitch to indicate he knew he was there.

"Schlatt?" he spoke, voice hardly above a whisper. (It felt wrong to speak any louder.) The hybrid shot up, eyes wide and _fearful_ , throwing himself away from the bars, a plea caught on his lips. Tommy was bewildered, to say the least, The reaction sent a pang of _something_ through his chest- perhaps guilt, sympathy, a combination of the two, or something entirely different. It took a moment, but the ram's brown eyes cleared and his posture relaxed- if only slightly.

"Tommy?" his question was barely audible, but he managed to pick up on it in the dead quiet of the room.

"Uh, yeah- I, uh, I wanted to ask you some questions or whatever, but I can uh- come back another time, if you want," he stuttered out, tripping over his words in his hast to reply and his inability to understand why powerful, unbreakable Schlatt was- was like _this_. 

"Yea, yeah. Sorry kid, I thought you were- ah, nevermind. Ask away!" The chuckle he let out was dry and cracked- it sounded painful, honestly- and was so obviously forced. His whole 'cheery' disposition was.

"You thought I was Wilbur." It wasn't a question. No, he could connect the dots himself- he wasn't stupid. He himself was terrified of the man, after all. He saw the way Schlatt flinched at the name, the way his eyes glossed over. How he seemed to try and make himself smaller- less 'threatening.'

"I'm sorry. I didn't know he was doing it to you too," Tommy continued, voice carefully blank.

"T- too?" Schlatt asked, worry and dread lacing his tone. He looked to the side, staring pointedly at the floor as he tugged his red neckerchief down to reveal the thin scar that ran across this throat.

"The worst instance."

"Oh." He'd never heard the man sound so defeated. He'd known the conman for years- since he was thirteen, actually- and, for better or for worse, he was always exceedingly confident- Notch, he was the least humble person he'd ever seen- with enough charisma to back all of his seemingly (or otherwise, really) impossible escapades. This was not the dictator he had grown to fear (had been told to fear), nor was this the shady businessman who had been his role model and mentor. This was a man who had been beaten and left to rot far too many times.

"Before- before _all this_ , did you know that- that Wilbur was..." he trailed off. What was he supposed to say? Crazy? Manipulative? A massive fucking dickhead? There were too many words and simultaneously not near enough to describe the new Wilbur (if he was even new at all.) His gaze was still locked stubbornly on the quartz tiles they sat on, so he only heard Schlatt sigh and lean back up against the iron bars that held him.

"Let me tell you a story, kid, about when we were young and dumb." Tommy's head shot up at that, features scrunched in confusion. Wilbur and Schlatt had known each other before the DreamSMP? He- he had had no idea.

"We met when we were eleven, I think. Wil might have been older, I don't quite remember that well, anymore. It's all kind of hazy. But, we were attached at the hip- or, at least, that's what Phil had said." There was a lapse in the conversation, the brunette likely caught up in the past.

"We met at a public server, Wil's first time on his own, actually. It was called SMPlive, and while it was certainly never as dramatic as this one seems to be, it wasn't too dissimilar. It was rather fun. We were all young and dumb, pulling stupid pranks and doing far too dangerous stunts. Most of us were just stupid kids without parents for the first time in our lives." The man's quiet laughter seemed genuine, this time. A gentle smile gracing his face. "Did you know that Wilbur had a really weird obsession with melons?" Tommy couldn't help but snicker at that.

"Sorry, off-topic. Point is, it was great back then, but the server started losing traction as we all grew up. Most joined other servers, or just went back home. I was caught up between following Wil or going back home with my brothers."

"You had brothers?" Tommy couldn't help but interrupt. He had never known this side of the man. Tommy had never seen the fragile _human_ behind the mask.

"Yeah," he murmured, voice soft and filled with such raw emotion the blonde was taken aback by it. "They were my everything."

"W-were?" he didn't think he liked where this was going.

"I wasn't- I wasn't like the rest of them. It's not like I was the only hybrid- Charlie was half slime, which, could be really fucking hilarious. He'd just go _splat_ sometimes, or walk through things. Cooper was half salmon? Or maybe it was cod? Whatever, he was part fish. Traves was part wolf, and no one knew what the fuck Noah was- he had no outwardly visible traits but Notch knows he wasn't fully human." Schlatt paused once more, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"There were times I would lose myself. I- I don't know what I did, exactly, but the stories weren't- they were gruesome. We had to keep moving between private servers because I kept destroying them. I don't know how, but I did. I don't even know what caused the attacks or the pure power I seemed to have at my fingertips during them. Then, one day, the blackouts _stopped_. When I had come back from my final one, there was a bloody note and a shiny red apple in front of me. I don't know what the fuck they did or how they managed to do it, but they, in their final moments, had written that they _loved me_ and that they had sacrificed themselves so that I could live in peace, without being plagued by a power I couldn't control." The lone tear that made its way down Schlatt's face made him realize that Schlatt really wasn't that much older than he was- no one was, really. In the grand scheme of things, they were all so _young_.

"I told Wilbur after I managed to find him in a public minigame server. He- he _feared_ me. Told me I had murdered my brothers in cold blood. I _begged_ him to understand, but he just wouldn't listen. And then the next day, he was inviting me back to that stupid fuking minigame server to play with him as if nothing had ever happened. But fuck, I was lonely and he was a friend, however much of a shit one he was. That server is what sparked all these ideas for what he called challenges. The worst one was the water. I never learned how to swim. The horns," he motioned vaguely to his head," made it damn near impossible to do. He decided it'd be a good idea to slowly fill a server up with water and see who could last the longest. I- I tried to survive, I really did, but he- fuck. He was such a fucking dick. He kept undermining all the work I'd put into it, calling me awful, horrid things when I'd beg for his help after things went wrong because of _him_. He laughed at me as I finally drowned- which fucking _hurts_ by the way- and then proceeded to brag for the next three days about his victory. It was the last straw, for me. I couldn't take it anymore, so I left. He eventually started up a new server- SMP Earth, right? Where all of you stayed for a while?"

"Yeah," he muttered. He wouldn't have believed a single word coming out of the hybrid's mouth if he had told him all of this a year ago. But now, after truly meeting Wilbur for the first time in his life down in that ravine that was supposed to be their salvation, he knew that Schlatt had to have been holding things back- sugarcoating the truth. For his own sake or Tommy's was yet to be determined. He could see it in the way his gaze was haunted. In the way his ears twitched like Techno's did when he was truly upset. How he didn't seem like he was living in the present.

"You were a sweet kid, Tommy, and even though you were related to Wilbur, I could never say no to you. You were so different from him- blonde hair, blue eyes, genuine smiles and laughter, and a heart of gold. It was refreshing just as much as it was a relief to see that he hadn't traumatized you like he had me. I- I guess that's not true anymore now, though." They both sat in pained silence, reminiscing on the past they could never have again.

"Why'd you banish me?" He finally asked the question that had been burning in his mind since the election day that started it all, up on that now torched podium.

"I banished Wilbur, which, admittedly, was a selfish move. But I- I wanted payback, for all he had done to me over the years. But you were his _brother_. How could I separate the two of you? That wouldn't have been fair to you. I- I realize now that that was a mistake, and there are no words in any language that could express how genuinely sorry I am for that."

"I- It's okay. I didn't know, either." His words were quiet. He never thought he could forgive the ma he had blamed for all his troubles, but, perhaps, this war marked a new leaf for everybody. Wilbur, who had finally dropped his loving mask. Schlatt, who had dropped his confident conman act. Techno and Dream, who had chosen to leave behind chaos and bloodshed in order to protect him. And Tommy, finally losing the rose-colored glasses he had once looked at the world with.

"You're a good kid, Tommy. Don't forget that, yea?" Schlatt sighed. "It's getting late, and you've been here long enough. Go rest up, okay?" Tommy could only nod, head spinning with new information as he walked back up the quartz stairs and into the White House that had become his own personal prison. He had a lot to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got the next three parts planned out after this, but I'm thinking that after the next part, I'll add Wilbur's POV for the events that have happened up until this point, because I feel it necessary to get in his head to explain why he switched from 'anything for Tommy' to 'wow he's fucking killed him what the fuck' and how it all equates in his mind  
> but also I'm REALLY excited about what happens next


End file.
